


Sadie Adler

by Cowboys_Hat



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Bandits & Outlaws, Cowboys & Cowgirls, F/F, I'm trying my best, Slow Burn, Slow Updates, There may or may not be smut I'm still not sure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:54:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24748702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cowboys_Hat/pseuds/Cowboys_Hat
Summary: Sadie's slowly but surely falling in love after she experiences the death of her husband.
Relationships: Sadie Adler/Abigail Roberts Marston
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	1. Ch 1 - "He was my husband"

Sadie shivered and wrapped the woolen blanket tighter around herself, her breath visible in the freezing air as she exhaled shakily. She had been down in the cellar for 3 days.

3 days without food and water. 3 days without Jake.

She shook her head trying not to think about what had happened but the memories flooded her mind.

Being up in the mountains they rarely got visitors so Jake knew something was wrong by the way they came rushing at the cabin.

He told her to hide in the cellar hoping her could draw them off.

"Jake...."

"Go on. I'll take care of 'em"

"Jake I can fight, we can-"

"No....I don't know what i'd do if you got hurt."

The look in his eyes....

"I love you." She whispered. He smiled at her one last time.

"I love you too."

Then everything went dark as he closed the cellar door. Moments later a loud *BANG!* sounded out, but this time it was followed by more....

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

"F-f-fuck" she cursed.

"good work Arthur!" she heard someone shout.

Her heart was pounding fast. Footsteps could be heard above her. "house, their in the house" she said and closed her eyes trying to focus her hearing to decipher the muffled voices. Something about women and someone named Jack. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized it wasn't the men who killed her husband. These were different folk. She was taken out of her thoughts when the door to the cellar was yanked open.

"Well, well, well what do have here?" the man said.

"No! Get away from me!" She yelled and tried to run away. She dodged the man and made her way to the front door but was stopped by him as he tried to grab her. She started throwing bottles and what ever she could find.

"Wild little thing ain't ya!!" The two men she had heard earlier came into the cabin but not before the man that had been chasing her flipped over the table setting the place on fire.

"Micah what are you doin?!"

"Shes an O’Driscoll!"

"No she ain't, Micah look at her. Miss come with us we gotta get out of here"

Sadie looked around seeing that the walls were already lit ablaze. One of the men wrapped a blanket around her and guided her outside. She was so pumped up on adrenaline that she didn't even feel the cold anymore. A million thoughts raced through her mind. 'Could she trust these folk?' Better yet 'did she have a choice?'

"Miss? Are you okay?"

She struggled to speak but when she did the tears came pouring. "They came three days ago....and my husband, they...."

"Okay, miss you are safe now....and you cant stay here"

They looked back at the burning cabin, now engulfed in flames.

"You can come with us....Arthur!" Another man took her and lead her to a horse.

"Miss? Its okay alright? were bad men but....we ain't them so, its okay. get on, well keep you safe till you figure out what you wanna do" All she could do was watch has her while life was being reduced to ashes.

He lifted her onto the horse and they rode away.

"what's your name miss?" she was too busy focusing on the burning building to notice the man was speaking to her.

"Miss?"

"Adler"

"Adler?"

"Sadie Adler. Mrs....I....he....he was my husband" she buried her face into her blanket to try and muffle the sound of her sobbing as they rode.

"I-I'm real sorry miss. Like Arthur here said, you can stick with us while you....sort things out. That feller up ahead is Micah and i'm Dutch."

"We've got a couple of cabins southwest of here, it ain't much but its shelter." Arthur shouted though the harsh storm. "Just let us know if you need anything."

She just nodded and kept to herself.

~~~

"Hey! Somebody's coming" She heard someone say. looking up she was met with the sight of people surrounding the horses.

"How'd you get on?"

"Good, Micah found a homestead but....he weren't the first. Colm O’Driscoll and his men. They beat us to it."

Someone came up to her offering their arms out to help her off of the horse. She slid into their grasp and was met with other faces lit up by the glow of lanterns.

"We found some of them but there is more about apparently....scouting a train."

"That's the last thing we need right now. Dutch."

"Well it is what it is but we found some supplies, some blankets....a little bit of food and this poor soul Ms. Adler."

Everyone looked at her.

"Miss Tilly, Miss Karen would you warm her up....give her a drink or something. Mrs. Adler its gonna be okay....you're safe now." The two women lead her to a building.

"Like Dutch said its gonna be okay, we'll warm ya' up and make ya' comfy. im Karen by the way-"

"and I'm Tilly"

"-you just let us know if you need anything at all" They opened the door, inside sat a small boy, two women, and two men. They all looked up from the glow of the fire.

"Abigail, Mary-Beth will you keep her company for a second, me and Tilly gotta go get some food"

"Of course." A blonde woman said. The two women took her by the hand as Karen and Tilly left.

Sadie couldn't stop crying. Her heart ached and felt heavy in her chest. Her mind was hurting. She just wanted it to stop.

"Miss? Miss? hello?"

The girl named Abigail reached out to her and layed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"y-yes, im sorry..."

She heard Abigail chuckle. "No need to 'pologize ma'am. Just wanted to make sure you were okay, Arthur says you lost your husband. That's a hell of a thing....I'm sorry." Abigail placed a hand on Sadie's arm in reasurance. "Come sit by the fire will you? Your bound to catch a cold if you don't warm up soon."

"Thank you...." she whispered

"If you ever, you know, wanted to talk or anything me and the girls are here for you."

"Thank you" Sadie repeated just before Karen and Tilly came back with some of the canned food Dutch and Arthur had found.

"Here you go Mrs. Adler" Karen said handing her a can of beans "I also got you a whiskey, figured you could use it"

"Thanks" Sadie said. She slowly ate as she stared into the flames.

~~~


	2. Ch 2 - "Tell me a story?"

Sadie's eyelids felt heavy and her body felt like a rock as she dozed in her chair. As much as she would love to sleep she just....couldn't.

Every time she closed her eyes she saw Jake's smiling face and then *BANG!*. It jolted her awake. Every time she leaned her head down trying to put her mind at rest that sound filled her ears.

People came in and out of the small room that she shared with a few other folks. Most looked just as depressed as her. Some of the gang members offered her food, some offered her their condolences but she wanted neither. She took to listening to their random conversations at least it helped take her mind off of that night if only for a second.

Right now she was tuned into a conversation between Abigail and Tilly. Sadie found that their voices brought her comfort and made her feel less alone. Like she wasn't the only one hurting.

"I-I don't know Tilly, he ain't been seen in days and the weather hasn't let up"

"He's strong and he's smart"

"Strong at least"

Sadie had pieced together that a man named John had been missing. Supposedly he'd gone out scouting and never returned. You've gotta be careful round these parts, wolves'll sneak up on you in the blink of an eye. Sadie knows that better than most.

She heard the door open and then footsteps but didn't bother to look up.

"Hello Arthur."

"Abigail...."

"Arthur....how you doin?"

"Just fine Abigail....and you?"

"I need you to....I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry for asking but the boy misses him somethin fierce I-"

"It's little John, he's got himself caught in a scrape again."

"He ain't been seen in two days."

"Your John'll be fine. I mean, he may be as dumb as rocks and as dull as rusted iron but that ain't changing just because he got caught in some snow storm."

An older man she'd come to know as Hosea chimed in. "Will you at least go take a look? Javier?"

Another one of the men in the group.

"Yes?"

"Javier will you ride out with Arthur to take a look for John? You're the two best fit men we've got."

"Now?"

"Well she's....we're all....we're pretty worried about him."

There was hesitation and then a wavered sigh. "Yeah I know if the situation were reversed he'd look for me...."

"Fine." Arthur grumbled and the men made their way out of the cabin.

Sadie only hoped that they knew what they were doing. It was easy to get lost and disoriented in the vast land of snow. Snow blindness, or "arc eye" as Jake would call it, was hard to escape when you've been out on the trail for too long.

She recalled a time when Jake had come stumbling in their home his hands outstretched, feeling for anything familiar and shouting 'Sadie' so loud she was sure that all the deer and rams for 10 miles out could hear them. She almost smiled at the memory, wishing she could go back one last time and relive that moment over again.

She felt tears welling in her eyes as she thought of Jake and willed herself to focus on something different.

"We should be getting off this mountain soon" she heard Hosea say. "Me and Dutch, we've, he's got a plan."

"I hope so, this cold. Ain't like nothin' I've seen before...." The Reverend pulled his blanket tighter around himself, cursing under his breath.

An old man named Uncle spoke up. "Eh you guys are weak, when I was stranded in Antarctica it was 10 times worse than this....yeah this weather well I reckon it's nothing to what me and my boys had to endure..."

"Your full of shit, you know that old man?" Karen said and that drew a chuckled from a few of the other members.

"I'll have you know I was respected in my youth."

"Yeah well, you ain't young no more so..."

"Would you two quit it?" Susan Grimshaw cut in, or as everyone called her, Ms. Grimshaw. "Folks need feedin' not fightin'. Some of you could always try and help out." 

After that little...lecture, everyone started talking amongst themselves. Most spoke of the weather and a few told stories. Sadie listened to Hosea speak of a time when he and Arthur went out to track a mighty bear. Some tip from a feller he robbed.

She found that she didn't mind that they were a band of outlaws. 'They cant be too bad' she thought, afterwards they did save her. 

"Miss?" Someone said and she felt a light tap on her knee. She looked down to see a small boy smiling at her. 

"Hi." She said softly not wanting to scare him away.

"Hello. Can you tell me a story?"

She didn't know what to say. The boy climbed upon the bench next to her and just...waited. Sadie looked around the room and saw his mom speaking with one of the other women, Marybeth. She didn't seem to notice that her son had wandered away.

"Uhm..." she started and struggled to come up with something. "Well...uh...there once was a man and this man had a horse." The boy beside her looked interested enough so she continued. "The man cared for the horse and made sure it's every need was met. In turn the horse took him wherever he needed to go. One day they were riding down the trail when when a group of men jumped them. The man pulled out his gun and-"

"Jack I told you not to bother her."

Sadie was interrupted by the boy's mother, Abigail.

"I'm sorry." Abigail apologized.

"It's no problem." Sadie said. "He wanted to hear a story so..." Sadie was oddly nervous, probably just because she hadn't had a real conversation with someone in god knows how long.

"Oh well. Again, I'm sorry."

Sadie realized she wasn't just apologizing for her son. She was saying 'sorry for your loss'. But instead of dwelling on the thought of Jake being gone she nodded her head and said 'thank you'.

The young mother ushered her son away, mumbling about how he needed to stick close to her. While Sadie went back to quietly dozing.

Over the next few day's there was talk of leaving and soon enough they did.

Sadie felt oddly anxious as they clambered into a wagons. A type of nervousness that she's never felt before rose through her stomach, into her chest and sat heavy in her heart.

"Mrs. Adler?" The man, Arthur, approached her. He stood with his hands gripping the buckle of his belt and a cigarette hanging lazily out of the corner of his mouth. "Dutch wanted me to ask you if you'd like to stick with us seeing as...you have nowhere to go..." 

She swallowed the lump in her throat and answered, her voice shaky with nerves. "Only if it's alright with you folk. I don't mean to impose." Arthur gave her a nod and an awkward pat on the back, then walked away. She thought for a moment if that was really what she want but in the end she decided it was for the best. Her ranch was nothing but charcoal and ashes, there was nothing left for her here. Maybe, maybe there would be something for her in Valentine, or, that's where everyone said they were going. 

She stared at the gang member's, each helping load the wagons so that they could leave, Exhaling one more time she went over to help them.


	3. Ch 3 - "Here"

Horseshoe Overlook. It was a nice clearing that overlooked the Heartlands, while still remaining hidden to the normal passerby. It was perfect.

One by one the old wagons filled with supplies and people pulled up to the area. The gang members quickly got to work, setting up tents, fetching water and starting campfires. Sadie took note of their coordination, as if they had done this the thousand times before.

She walked around idly, observing the other members as they talked. She offered to help a few but they politely refused obviously still feeling bad about her recent loss. 

She eventually sat down on a rock on the outskirts of camp with a sigh in defeat. She needed to do something, anything before the thoughts of Jake came rushing back.

"Y'know I never did thank you."

Sadie looked up and saw the young woman from before. Abigail. She leaned against the tree in front of where she sat. Her arms crossed over her chest and a cigarette dangling from her lips. "Thank you....?" Sadie said warily, not knowing what she was referring to.

"My son. Jack." she pointed behind her to the young boy running around, teeming with excitement over his new-found home.

"Oh. It's no problem." she sighed. "No problem at all."

"Sadie right?" Abigail said moving towards her. She took a seat on the rock next to her. "He loved whatever story you told 'em. Talks my ear off 'bout it."

Sadie recalled vaguely the half finished story she told him. "I picked it up in a book somewhere..." she said quietly. Her hands twisting in her lap. 

"Hmm." Abigail said taking the half-burned cigarette in between her fingers, holding out to Sadie. "Smoke?"

Sadie hesitated only for a second before taking the little stick, slipping it between her lips and taking a drag. 

"Jack's learning to read. Hosea's teaching him."

Sadie exhaled slowly, the smoke billowing from her mouth and nostrils. The strong taste of nicotine coating her tongue. She listened carefully as Abigail continued to talk.

"I've- I've been meaning to learn myself I just- I just haven't the time I guess. You ever have kid's Ms. Adler?" 

"No." Sadie said. "Me and Jake we tried...I couldn't get..."

"Oh." Abigail said quietly. Sadie was just glad she got what she had meant. So that she didn't have to elaborate. "I know we just met 'n all but...but I was wonderin' if you'd mind teachin' me."

"Too read?" Sadie wanted to clarify, although what else would she teach the young woman that she had indeed just met and was already finding herself wanting to become friends with. She was going off track! She needed to give Abigail an answer, "Sure." She said simply, taking another drag off the cigarette to stop herself from saying anything else.

"Okay. Thank you. I'll-"

"Everyone! Gather around!"

Dutch's voice cut Abigail off.

"C'mon everybody!" He said again.

"I guess It's best we go listen." Abigail said with a chuckle. She stood and turned to Sadie offering a hand to her. "C'mon now." she said with a warm smile that made Sadie feel odd but in a good way. She reached out and took abigail's hand which helped her to her feet and they joined the others.

Dutch stood in front of a crowd, at his side were Arthur and Hosea. There was a light chatter across the small crowd until Dutch spoke out again.

"I know that thing's have been tough. But we are safe now, and we are far too poor. So it is time for everyone to get to work!"

Then Hosea spoke. "Get to work but stay out of trouble. Remember, we are itinerant workers-"

"-Laid off when they shut off our factory to the north." Dutch interrupted. "Now get out there and see what you can find. Uncle, Reverend Swanson-" The half drunk men in the back of the crowd perked up at the sound of their names. "-no more passengers!" a light chuckled went through the crowd at the joke. "It is time for everyone to earn their keep."

"There's a town a little way down the track, Valentine. It's a livestock town, all grunts and working girls if I remember right. That seems like a decent place to start." Hosea said.

"-And we need food." someone in the crowd said. All eyes turned to a fat man with a top hat and an old sweater. Sadie wasn't absolutely sure of who he was. "Real food." he said again. "That means every day, one of you." 

"-And remember all of you!" everyone turned back to Dutch as he bent over and pick up a metal lockbox. "The camp get's it's slice!" he gestured to the thing as he set it on a barrel beside him. He finished the whole speech with a simple, "Now be sensible out there." and that was that.

People dispersed with a chatter, most went back to what they were doing before he had interrupted. "Well..." Sadie heard Abigail say and she turned to look at her. "Guess i'll be seeing you around yeah?" 

"Yeah..." Sadie said quietly and watched as Abigail walked away and towards her unruly son. "Yeah." she said again to herself. 

All of a sudden she felt a sharp pain on her fingers. "Shit!" she exclaimed lowly. The cigarette. She had forgotten about the cigarette. She dropped it and brought her fingers to her mouth sucking on them lightly to relieve the pain. While she was doing that Ms. Grimshaw had caught up with her. 

"Ms. Adler, the girl's have decided that you would be best, bunking with them."

She startled Sadie to say the least. Sadie quickly took her fingers out of her mouth.

"Oh...Okay. Thank you." Sadie said, to be honest it hadn't dawned on her that she had nowhere to sleep and she was truly thankful that someone was looking out for her. "Should I...?"

"Right this way." Ms. Grimshaw said and started walking without waiting for Sadie to catch up.

The place was just big enough for four girls. It was just a couple of blankets sprawled over a pallet on the ground on one side and the same set up under another wagon beside it. "Tilly and Karen room together, you can do the same with Mary-Beth. Speak to her and they'll get you set up." Ms. grimshaw said and then walked away before Sadie could say more. 

"Hello Miss." A young girl said. Sadie turned to see Mary-Beth smiling at her and wiping her wet hands on her dress, having just finished washing clothes. "Ms. Grimshaw said you was to be sleeping with us. I'm Mary-Beth I don't believe I introduced myself the other day."

"Sadie." Sadie said and gave her a simple nod.

"It's nice to meet you. You can have either side-" Mary-beth gestured to the blankets. "-I ain't too picky." 

"Right'll be just fine." Sadie said picking a random side. "So..." she started, sitting down on the blankets. Mary-beth did the same. "...How long have y'all been...running..." She tried not to sound so odd about it, but she was curious. They seemed to have done this plenty of times.

"Oh you know...to many times to count by now."

"Hm."

"We usually don't move so often 'least it wasn't like that when I first joined."

"And how did you?"

"These boys found me when I was- ha, I was getting chased for robbin' a feller. I didn't have anywhere else to go so I...fell in with them."

Sadie thought for a moment. "I take it you we're all runnin' from the law at some point?"

"Yeah. Dutch saved most if not all of us. He really did." 

Sadie nodded. "Well i'd best get goin' with my next chore before Ms. Grimshaw loses her head. It was nice meeting you i'll see you later?"

"Yeah, it was nice meeting you too."

Sadie ended up taking a nap after Mary-beth had left her. She hadn't realized how tried she was although thinking back on the last couple of days, she hadn't gotten much sleep. 

She dreamed of a smokeless campfire in the middle of dusty plains. Nothing could be seen for miles out and the only thing she could think to do was stay by the heat. Hoping something or someone would tell her what she was doing way out there, alone.

When she awoke it was dark. The camp was quiet, save for the crackling of the few fires. Sadie rose quietly, careful not to wake the sleeping woman beside her. She found that her mouth was dry and had a sour taste in it while her body ran hot.

Sadie stumbled to the nearby barrel beside the wagons and dipped her hands in the cool water. It immediately calmed her scorching skin but that wasn't enough, after splashing some on her neck and face she lifted handfuls to her mouth and drank greedily until at last she was sated. "Fuck." She said under her breath.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed, i'll be updating soon


End file.
